Wyoming Cowboys fall to Colorado State in latest Border Wars showdown
University of Wyoming guard Hunter Maldonado cuts to the edge in his team’s Friday loss to rival Colorado State. (via Wyoming Cowboy Basketball Twitter)
FORT COLLINS, Colorado — The Wyoming Cowboys failed to overcome the Colorado State Rams’ hot shooting on Friday, falling 84-71 in the final iteration of the Border War.
“If you allow the other team to shoot 60%, it’s going to be tough to win,” said UW head coach Jeff Linder, “but in the end [seven-minute mark] the second half it was a five point game and we had the momentum. They come down and take a shot and then they get two offensive rebounds that end up leading to a three of them. In that stretch they went on a 10-0 run and the game goes from five to 15 points and it’s game over.
Hunter Maldonado led Wyoming with 23 points. He also added six rebounds and five assists on the night. Brendan Wenzel added 17 points in double digits in his ninth game this season. He hit five threes that night. Hunter Thompson added 12 points.
“Maldo is a warrior and hopefully Monday – which I know is sometimes difficult for fans to come out on a Monday night – but I hope Wyoming supporters come out and honor these two guys, Hunter Maldonado and Hunter Thompson ‘ Linder said. “They are a rare breed and will become even rarer as college basketball develops. These two guys are loyal. We’d better die as a team for these two guys because in this day and age when it’s easy to blame someone else, they didn’t blame anyone. You could have gone. Maldo could have left for ZERO money, but this guy is loyal to the University of Wyoming and loyal to the brown and gold.
“Hunter Thompson also took the brunt of a lot of things as a Wyoming kid on our team, but this guy gave his heart and soul to the University of Wyoming. I hope and pray as I hope and pray for my dad that people will show up on Monday and honor these guys. You deserve to be honored.”
The Cowboys shot 45% from the field in the contest and finished the night with 10 three-pointers. However, the Rams shot 59% from the field and 44% from behind the arc.
The Pokes capitalized on early threes from Thompson and Wenzel to forge a quick 8-5 advantage in the opening two-and-a-half minutes, though the Rams answered back. The Rams went on a 10-0 run and took a 22-12 lead with just under 12 minutes into the first half.
The Cowboys cut the Rams’ lead to nine when a three-pointer from Maldonado made it a 28-19 contest, but the Rams then kept the Pokes scoreless for the next few minutes as they built a 35-19 advantage with just under five minutes left at half time.
In the second half, Wyoming showed signs of life by keeping the Rams scoreless for almost four minutes and reducing the deficit to 49-44 with 13 minutes remaining. The Rams extended the lead back to 55-46 midway through the half, and Thompson made it a six-point game again with a three before the Rams increased it to 59-49 with nine minutes remaining.
Wenzel added his third three-pointer of the game and Maldonado added an and-one to make it a five-point game, but Colorado State was again able to respond directly with a three-pointer of their own to take the lead to oust back to eight.
The Rams were on a 10-0 run as the game came to an end, and although UW had one last run in them and reduced a 15-point deficit to 76-66, that was as close as the Cowboys would come.